ever heard of Precure?

   She watched as Minori crouched down and reached under the tables with the extension cord then. Bzzt. The television was plugged in and it began to crackle to life. With a little bit of tinkering, and some hard hits from Asuka, the picture straightened up though there was an iridescent fuzz to the otherwise normal colours that it produced.

   “Ah, all done.” Sakuragawa-sensei announced over the sound of an advertisement jingle. She wiped the sweat off her brow and smiled. “Enjoy watching the news program that I heard about.”

   Sakuragawa-sensei waved her students goodbye after her little announcement and left them to their own devices as raucous noise erupted in the middle of their club activities for the day.

   Manatsu cheered and she jostled Sango on the shoulder in particular. Sango’s expression continued to wobble as now she just felt embarrassment. Asuka gave her a wink and Minori gave her a thumbs up. This was a lot of attention that she was beginning to consider undue.

   Regardless, everyone clambered together around Sango and they waited with bated breath as one, two, three. The afternoon news program that they had aimed to tune into was just beginning. It looked like they managed to get all set up in the nick of time, nice.

    The opening credits rolled, the host of the show introduced her guests, and of the three she had, one of them was Yamabe Yuna. Today’s feature was on the movie that Yuna had been a part of and such, the other guests were her costars. The aim of the program for them was to promote the movie given that it had had a successful opening weekend and continue to get the word out about how they were the new hot thing in town.

   And the Tropical Club would, of course, know.

   Part of their club activities the previous week had been going to the movie theatre and watching the movie that Yuna starred in as the antagonist. It had been a great time with them all kicked back and chilled out with a big bucket of popcorn to share and plenty of cold drinks, too.

   The movie was excellent. Or as much as a saccharine story aimed at young teenagers could be. It was filled to the brim with melodrama and bright lights as it retold the slice of life story of school through the heated lens of adolescence and the intensities that come with such a turbulently emotional time. 

   Three out of five stars.

   A consensus that was sweeping through the newspapers and blogs who categorised all new blockbusters that hit the shelves. Not too much else to think about with it as they left their mark on show business.

   Or so they thought up until a couple of days ago. Up until then, the Tropical Club had considered the saga cut and dry as far as they were concerned specifically. They helped out and then watched the movie afterwards when it had come out. Done and dusted. That was until Sakuragawa-sensei had gotten the tip-off from one of the adults involved in the movie’s production company that a special shout out to the school, and in particular the Tropical Club for their assistance.

   So today’s activity for the club was to bask in the glory of their assistance. They watched through the preamble of the heroines of the movie and their takes on the tale of production. It was honestly pretty funny, it was really obvious the different movie stars were friends and the host had the wit of a whip crack so it made for quite some entertaining moments.

   And then. At the three quarter mark of the episode, it was Yuna’s turn to have the spotlight.

   She spoke animatedly into the barrel of the camera. Her costars had nothing but joy and delight over her, it warmed Sango’s heart to watch their bond unfold as Yuna got to share her experience from on set. It was nothing but positives despite the struggle she had due to the role bucking the typecast trap she had found herself in and had overcome.

   With her hand on her heart and a smile on her face, it was finally time for Yuna to address the Tropical Rouge Club. All breaths were bated. All bums were on the edge of the seat as finally, Yuna said her piece.

   “I couldn’t have done this without the help I received from some very kind girls from Aozora City Middle School.” Yuna spoke sincerely. “They gave me such excellent advice and support from the sidelines, I truly was their friend by the end of the day and that means so much to me. In particular, a sweet young woman by the name of Suzumura Sango was of great help.”

   Sango couldn’t believe her ears. She blushed and straightened up as she watched Yuna wave at the camera: just for her.

   “If you girls are watching, hi, thank you so much for the help.” Yuna concluded her speech to the warm applause of the others.

   The host rounded off Yuna’s anecdote with a saccharine smile and something which attempted poignancy but just came off as trite. It didn’t matter whatsoever due to the credits rolling and it was all getting lost in the revelry as Sango’s friends celebrated her good fortune at being recognised as a pivotal asset in the assistance they had provided.

   Her heart pounded and she felt breathless despite having sat as still as a statue in an ergonomic chair. She was congratulated heartily. Pats on the back and the head, smiles and all but it was all lost in Sango’s head as she was equal parts bewildered and… inspired.

   “Congratulations,” Asuka said and she pat Sango on the back, “you deserved the shout out.”

   “Well done on leaving such an impression.” Minori added.

   “Yeah, yeah, proud of you, Sango!” Manatsu boisterously added.

   Yet all her friends' voices were so faraway to Sango as her eyes turned utterly starry as she watched the credits. She felt like she was on the precipice of something: some kind of revelation. She sorted her thoughts but that only served to embarrass her as she was a humble and even shy person.

   Hesitantly, Sango blushed, she wasn’t too sure about all the praise and adoration she was getting heaped on. Her marks weren’t anything to write home about, though a cut above average. She was cute but she didn’t feel all that good for very many things. 

   At least until now.

   Sango’s heart stirred and she wondered, above the anxiety and the reflexive humbleness that she felt, if there was a calling in show business for her. She hadn’t thought too hard about the future. She didn’t really have a dream like other people did.

   She wasn’t like Minori who knew exactly what she wanted to do: write. Nor was she like Manatsu who had so many different whims depending on the day that she was always learning something new. 

   But maybe, just maybe, Sango might have found something she would be interested in pursuing as a dream.

   Could there be prosperity in consultancy or the like? Or in becoming a makeup artist or something similarly fashionable, with her charge’s name up in lights. She didn’t want to be the one up on stage but she wanted to do what she could do to help.

   With a smile, Sango finally accepted all the congratulations and praise that bubbled up around her. She cherished the mirthful looks on her friends' faces as she allowed it all to become the catalyst of her potential. Sango was certain she had uncovered a direction to herself and a dream to pursue and was that not the purest distillation of the Tropical Club’s motivations?